1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to the field of electronics, and in particular to electronic chips that generate extraneous heat during normal operation. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for securing a heat sink against a heat generating circuit package, which still more particularly may be a computer chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical personal computer (PC), the main heat-generating component among the logic circuits is the processor, also referred to as the Central Processing Unit (CPU) or microprocessor (MP). As illustrated in FIG. 1, a processor 102 is mounted in a socket 104, which is mounted on a (printed) circuit board 106 by mating pins 108 from the processor 102 into the socket 104. As processors continue to grow in performance, so does the heat generated by the processors. To remove heat from processor 102, a heat sink (HS) 110, having a HS base 112 and a plurality of fins 114, is secured to processor 102 by a strap 116. Heat is conducted from the processor 102 to the HS base 112 and the fins 114, which dissipate heat by conduction and convection to ambient air surrounding fins 114. To provide thermal conduction between the processor 102 and the HS base 112, thermal grease 118, typically a thermally conductive silicon or filled hydrocarbon grease doped with fillings such as metals, is used.
A major drawback to the heat sink mounting scheme shown in FIG. 1 is that to secure and remove strap 116 requires tools and is time consuming. Furthermore, to break a suction bond caused by thermal grease 118 requires a firm grip on fins 114, which may be hot, thus causing a technician to burn her fingers.
What is needed therefore is a device that permits easy installation and removal of heat sink 110, preferably without the use of tools, against a processor 102, while still providing a secure contact between the top of processor 102 and the bottom of HS base 112.